The presenter had been criticised for picking up items that belonged to victims on board the crashed Malaysian plane in Ukraine - including a child's water bottle and a set of keys - during his live report on Sunday (July 19).

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

Brazier explained that he was thinking of his own children while reporting from the scene of the crash, saying: "I got things wrong. If there was someone to apologise to in person, I would."

Writing for The Guardian, he continued: "During that lunchtime broadcast I stood above a pile of belongings, pointing to items strewn across the ground. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a pink drinking flask. It looked familiar. My 6-year-old daughter, Kitty, has one just like it.

"I bent down and, what my Twitter critics cannot hear - because of the sound quality of internet replays of the broadcast - is that I had lost it. It is a cardinal sin of broadcasting, in my book anyway, to start blubbing on air. I fought for some self-control, not thinking all that clearly as I did so.

"Too late, I realised that I was crossing a line. I thought aloud, 'We shouldn't be doing this... this is a mistake', an instant apology that was only selectively quoted by those determined to see what I did as a powerful example of journalistic vulturism."

BBC Radio presenter Shelagh Fogarty was among those who criticised Brazier for his report, tweeting: "Sky!!! Get your reporter to STOP rummaging thru belongings at #mH17 crash site."

The broadcast came after reports that the crash site had been contaminated by armed pro-Russia separatists, local people and the international media.

Brazier added that Sky had supported him despite the "serious error of judgement". He wrote: "They were supportive, and keen to stress that they understood the context of the gaffe."